Berlin-based artist Adam Fearon presented p13n, a solo exhibition curated by Thomas Butler at not-for-profit space Room E-10 27 in Paris. The title refers to Amazon’s algorithm for the personalization of tailoring their products and services to accommodate specific individuals and improve costumer satisfaction. Placed within the context of digital sale initiatives and customized branding, Fearon explores subject positions within the shifting experience of contemporary life.
The show responds to the circular shape of the room, a grey board of MDF (medium-density fibreboard) is made into an octagon stage and is painted grey. Two MacBook Airs are turned on their side, creating a sculptural triptych; the screen in the middle plays a video of an Amazon Kindle. Made specifically for the Kindles eInk screen, the film is a photographic-video work which looks at storage boxes abstracted by an inverse of black and white. Dotted around the rest of the space are silicon moulds made from these boxes, however they are rendered formless and unusable. As ghosts of the original, the boxes occupy a more functional space on screen and lose their content and purpose when made into the art object.
The show is also part of a larger project called Gyricon, an eBook which will launched in Berlin by Broken Dimanche Press. Referring to the Greek word of ‘turning light’ and referencing the name given to the prototype of eInk technology, the project focuses on Fearon’s ongoing interest in surface through the identities of object and image.**
Exhibition photos, top right.
